‘At least 35’ dead as Motorway Bridge collapses in Genoa

According to Angelo Borrelli, head of the Italian Civil Protection, many people died and others were injured after a section of a highway bridge in northern Italy partially collapsed Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists, Borrelli said that around 30 vehicles and several heavy-duty trucks were on the affected section of the Morandi Bridge, which lies to the west of the port city of Genoa, when it gave way.
The number of casualties is expected to grow as the rubble is removed, Borrelli said, however it is unlikely that anyone was underneath the bridge at the time of the collapse, he added.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that several crushed vehicles are under the rubble with dead people inside, citing unnamed sources who did not provide a specific number of casualties. Some trucks ended up in the Polcevera river, Carabinieri police sources told ANSA.

Luca Cari, spokesman for the fire service, told Italian news agency Rai that rescuers were searching for people underneath the rubble as if this were an earthquake.
The incident occurred around noon (6 a.m. ET) Tuesday, Italian state police said, later posting a video on Twitter of the moment the bridge gave way.

Police said that a violent storm was the cause of the collapse. An automated report from the weather station at the nearby Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport around the time of the incident recorded thunderstorms with winds gusting to 57 kilometers per hour (35 miles per hour).